Comfy lit thread? I'm about half way into his introduction to the reader, and I've got to say it is one of the most pleasant reading experiences I've ever had. Latin skills are also easy to develop with reading.
Comfy?
Comfy lit thread? I'm about half way into his introduction to the reader, and I've got to say it is one of the most pleasant reading experiences I've ever had. Latin skills are also easy to develop with reading.
I like al-Mutannabi and Abu Nuwas. The Rihla is pretty damn good. but Confucius Analects is probably the comfiest read I've had so far.
I'll recommend Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, as well as basically any history book. Always relaxing.
Are you reading an unabridged edition? I've been searching around for ages and the only unabridged English version I can find is the Hakluyt Society. Very hard to find a copy.
Currently re-reading Rings of Saturn. That book has an atmosphere like nothing else.
Rings of Saturn has a very melancholic, haunting atmosphere, but somehow it is comfy. Great book
>Rings of Saturn
I actually think it beats out Austerlitz for the beauty of his prose. One of the reasons it's so comfy is the setting. I live only a few miles from the Suffolk coast myself. East Anglia never underwent the industrial revolution like the rest of the country because of it's place on the periphery of England and the poverty of its natural resources and as such it feels like this part of the world has been asleep for the past few centuries. Most buildings are pre-IR, the hedgerows are still made up of the hawthorn and brambles planted hundreds of years prior, the Norman parish churches that never saw the "renovations" of some local Victorian grandee. He couldn't have picked a better spot.
Do you have any recommendations for places to visit in EA? Been meaning to since I read it, but it’s probably a bit inconvenient to retrace Sebald’s original walk.
t. Londongay
>it’s probably a bit inconvenient to retrace Sebald’s original walk
Not at all! I've done it myself.
>pic related
His route mostly follows the Suffolk coastal path which takes three or four days to hike.
>Do you have any recommendations for places to visit in EA
I'll give you some recs which are a little more off the beaten track as any one can google Norwich cathedral. Somerleyton Hall, which Sebald visits in the RoS is high up on the list. It's not owned by the national trust and therefore doesn't have that kitsch middle-aged woman aura which seems to permeate our other stately homes. Again, it feels like stepping back in time and the gardens are stunning.
Nearby is Lound parish church which (ironically as in my previous post I mentioned this didn't happen) had it's interior redone by a man named Ninian Comper, who was truly a genius and one of the last great Anglican triumphalists. Here's Betjeman visiting it: https://youtu.be/EkqY-MBPTR8?si=wFNhb_6CIIHwbJ6o&t=2256
I'll only recommend one more place as I reckon you could get this all done in a day but if you like music - try and see a concert at Snape Maltings, Benjamin Britain's concert hall. It's a very beautiful place and walking around the exterior in the evening as the mist comes in from the fen, hearing the notes from the orchestra inside is haunting.
Was not expecting such a detailed post. Thanks a lot anon.
So you recommend a day’s tour of: Somerleyton -> Lound -> Snape Maltings ?
I notice they’ve got an evening performance of The Coronation of Poppea later this month, so I might time my visit around then.
No problem. I didn't start out the post thinking of an itinerary but I think that would be a pretty pleasant day out. Of course there's a lot more to see, these are just some of my personal favourites. Might involve a bit of driving though!
>that kitsch middle-aged woman aura which seems to permeate our other stately homes
Also yeah, I totally know what you mean lol.
Honestly I'd read a Rings of Saturn for any walk in any place, wish there were more books like it.
Wilhelm Meister series is super comfy.
Anything shounen ai will do for me.
Montaigne
Thoreau
Emerson
Whitman
The Pickwick Papers
Chaucer
Hemingway short stories
The Rings of Saturn (depressing comfy)
The Magic Mountain
Don Quixote
Chekhov
Murakami
Cannery Row
Mason & Dixon
Plutarch
Decameron
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Classical Chinese poetry
Classical Chinese poetry is fricking amazing
How do I get into it? Where to start? Do I have to learn the language?
https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/learn-chinese/
Check out Archie Barnes book Chinese Through Poetry. It teaches you classical chinese by reading and explaining famous poems.
>The Pickwick Papers
My man. Probably my favorite book. Read it back-to-back lol
good list
>The Magic Mountain
>Don Quixote
uber comfy
>Mason & Dixon
The scenes with people indoors in wintertime are so utterly cozy
Butchers crossing, western and comfy
I like Essays on Idleness
They're a mixture of pithy thoughts, feelings and sentiments, writings on art, culture, history, religion, relationships, food, etc
In addition to that you feel like you're learning about the culture you're reading about
Does anyone know any examples of French essayists who are like this?
There's one where he talks about the joys of reading old texts at night and communing with someone long dead that always sticks out to me. He too was /comfy/ from reading old books.
More people should write an introductory poem addressed to the reader. It is indeed one of the coziest books I know of.
currently reading this and somehow I find extremely comfy
Yes! That’s a great book. Top tier comfy. I wish more literary criticism was this pleasurable to read.
The chapter on Dante blew my mind. I felt like I unlocked a deeper understanding of the Commedia.
He has a whole book on Dante published by NYRB. I liked it and want to get around to Mimesis eventually
>NYRB
Only vaguely on topic but I bought a NYRB edition of Stoner the other day and it's so pleasant just to hold. Usually I don't give much thought to the physical form of what I read but those books are just so damn nice in the hand.
The Hobbit, Grendel, and Beowulf are all extremely cozy to me and all very well written.
Zhuangzi has to be the comfiest book I ever read.
And Oblomov
>Latin skills are also easy to develop with reading.
might be a bit of an odd request but can anyone else recommend some comfy books that help with Latin skills? I'm in a bit of a jam with regards to learning Latin at the moment and would like to still be learning even when relaxing.
Winnie ille Pu would be my pick
Thanks, I never read the original Winnie the Pooh books so this'd probably be a fun way to do that.
hey, this is a comfy thread.
My picks:
Somerset Maugham - basically everything, esp Of Human Bondage, Razor's Edge, his short stories and writer's notebook.
Essays of Samuel Johnson (Oxford Classics has a great major works edition)
Stefan Zweig - The World of Yesterday. Melancholy portrayal of pre-WW1 Austrian culture that was totally gone after.
If you can read German, Theodor Fontane's novels. I don't think they are translated, unfortunately.